what gies with frank capra and his production of many of these films? have the perfect background for this. he had some science training as an undergrad in caltech in chemical engineering in 1918. during world war i he taught to artillery recruits -- he taught math to artillery recruits. his family immigrated to l.a. and he worked odd jobs. when he was working as a math teacher in san francisco, he saw an advertisement for a satellite films video. -- film studio. he basically hustled himself in the door, let them think he had more experience than he did because he was interested. and that was the thing that got the ball rolling. although she had a great deal of success in hollywood in the 1930's, he left hollywood to enlist in world war ii and make other films. he came back at a moment when his career was in a lull. it sounds incongruous because many of us are member him for "it's a wonderful life," which is a beloved christmas classic. at the time it got mixed article reviews. he was in a lull. that's part of the reason why he wanted to do these films.